If Oklahoma politics had a black market in weapons of mass destruction, says one congressional campaign manager who asked we not use his name, Ben Harris would be high up on the FBI’s most wanted list. In 2002, when Steve Largent ran for Governor, then-Independent Gary Williamson stopped the Republican dead in his tracks with an ad the public found so vile, most viewers switched their channels. The 30-second television spot showed the World Trade Center towers shortly before their collapse and reminded viewers that Congressman Steve Largent was hunting in Idaho while Congress was voting on resolutions addressing the terrorist attacks. At the time, Largent had been unreachable due to communications problems and was unaware of either the attacks or the votes. Visibly shaken upon returning to peppering by the media, Largent swore at repeated questioning on the subject. All of the above made it into the Ben Harris ad. Gary Williamson siphoned off enough of the vote that 43% was sufficient to put Brad Henry in the governor’s mansion. Four years later, Bob Sullivan has hired Ben “the hit man” Harris for his campaign’s ads. Not to tell the truth. Not even to tell the full story. His first attack ad on uber-conservative Congresman Ernest Istook used masks, doctored photographs, a paid actor, sounds of pigs squealing, even a bobble-head doll of the Congressman. All it lacked was a shred of truth. But that has never been Ben Harris’ style. Unfortunately, for Oklahoma voters, it may only be the beginning, as it clearly wasn’t the knock-out blow the 9-11 ad was for Largent. Harris has a checkered past. He quit a state job in Florida after ethical concerns were raised. An investigation centered on allegations Ben Harris gave contracts to vendors with whom he had a personal relationship. Jerry Regier, then head of Florida's child-protection agency, hired Harris. Regier in July 2004 suspended Harris and a co-worker, Glenn Palmiere, for their actions. Harris and Palmiere resigned a couple weeks later and Regier, who served from 2000 to 2002 as temporary head of the Oklahoma Health Department, resigned later that summer. The three have said they reimbursed vendors for everything they received. The St. Petersburg, Fla., Times reported a state report showed Harris received a karaoke machine from an individual involved with a company that received 298 contracts totaling more than $4 million from the state agency, accepted a "spa massage" that a computer company paid for, and circumvented state purchasing requirements in hiring a consultant. Harris and Palmiere in June 2004 traveled to Sydney, Australia, at the expense of a software company that won a $500,000 contract with the Florida agency the previous year, the newspaper reported. Posted at 6/28/2006 08:45:00 AM